Ashes to Ashes
by Ivy.Lunar.Reid
Summary: With a relationship ending in flames, Hannah moves on in life as her best friend rushes to her side once more. Will she open her arms or will she turn her back on her ex-love, Zacharias Smith? Even a sweet girl like Hannah has her limits.
1. Chapter 1

Title: Ashes to Ashes

Rating: ...I'm leaning over to T, maybe because of the matter at hand.

Warnings: Maybe a little ooc? But what fanfic doesn't have a litttle ooc at certain times.

Disclaimer:I do not own Harry Potter but only my impression about them.

Summary: With a relationship ending in flames, Hannah moves on in life as her best friend rushes to her side once more. Will she open her arms or will she turn her back on her ex-love, Zacharias Smith? Even a sweet girl like Hannah has her limits.

~o0o0o~

There was only so much a girl could handle before she blows. A forgotten date might annoy her but it won't cause her to erupt. Several forgotten dates might irk the girl but if she really cared, she would listen with patience. A date planned several weeks ahead, set on Valentine's Day, with handmade chocolate as well after several missed dates, well, even the kindest girl would turn into a Fury. Hannah Abbott was a sweet, kind Hufflepuff with the patience of saints but even she was human. With a tired sigh, Hannah left the Three Broomsticks and walked into the busy street of Hogsmeade. She looked down at her outfit for the day and cursed her desire to dress up. She looked up into the sky and cursed at the gloomy weather. She felt jealous as she watched couples walked down the street, hand-in-hand with loving smiles on their faces.

With a huff and a puff, Hannah took several deep breaths before a sad smile appeared on her face. Maybe being in a relationship with Zacharias Smith wasn't such a good thing after all. At first, things were great between the two Puffs. But once their sixth year started, Hannah felt things have changed. Things had been tensed between the two and Hannah wasn't so happy with where things were heading.

Many didn't know Zacharias Smith like she did. Before she was Susan's friend, she was Zacharias's. They lived close enough for their mothers to visit each other during their early childhood. Zacharias was a sweet and caring boy, loyal as well. But he had trust problems when the one person he trusted with his life walked out of his life just before his eleventh birthday. When his father left his family, Zacharias told Hannah, besides a select few, he would never trust easily again. It took Susan and several of his year mates a while before he trusted them. It took just as long for him to trust the rest of the Hufflepuff house. Yet, once he believed in his Housemates, he was loyal to them as a Hufflepuff was loyal to their cause.

To anyone outside of the Hufflepuff House, Zacharias might come off as snobbish, a skeptic of anything that deals with trust. Most times they would be right. But Hannah knew better. She knew he wasn't. Her mother once described Zacharias as wooden child. When she looked up the definition of the word, it did describe Zach very well, an awkwardly stiff boy. He had his problems and people didn't know about them.

A laugh broke through her deep thoughts and Hannah looked up to see she was near Zonko's. With a quick look around, Hannah's heart cracked a bit as she watched her oldest friend and boyfriend laughing and joking with a pretty girl from the year below them. This was a sight she could not tear her eyes away. She felt a hand wrapped around her arm and was pulled towards the school. Her eyes never strayed from the sight, even when Zacharias Smith connected his lips with the girl's.

"Come on Hannah, you shouldn't have to see this." Her best female friend told her as Hannah's eyes, wide with disbelief, linked with Susan's brown eyes.

"He didn't, did he? He's not doing what I think he was doing, was he?" Hannah's voice was soft and broken. Susan pulled her best friend into a tight hug. Hannah barely felt how tight the hug was, barely heard the quiet muttering of threats and retribution. Hannah's mind was numb to the world as she was lead into the safety of her dorm room, where she knew where things were.

"Get some sleep Hannah, everything will be better after a long sleep." Hannah changed into her pajamas and lay in bed, following every order Susan gave her. She felt a motherly hand petting her hair. The soft, tender show of affection swayed the shaken girl to sleep. Maybe in the morning, things would become clear. Or maybe this was all a nightmare of a Valentine's Day that would not happen? Maybe it wasn't Valentine's Day yet? Hannah allowed the darkness to quiet her questioning and nervous mind and drifted into the valley of sleep.

~0o0o0~

A/N: This was in response to the **48 hour or Less Challenge** set by** no heroes allowed** in the Harry Potter Fanfiction Challenges Forum.

Some notes on this chapter, yes this is only a chapter out of a short story. I liked where I was going, it didn't end up how I thought it would be but I really like where this is going. Like I now say, review is like food for the starving. FEED ME! Please?


	2. Chapter 2

Title: Ashes to Ashes

Rating: T

Warnings: Slight OOC on Hannah's part but she's got pissed! If you got pissed off, like seriously pissed off, wouldn't you blow up as well? Hm? I thought so. Can't blame the girl, I would do much worse if Zach did what he did to her to me.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter but I do own this story plot.

~o0o0o~

When one was in love, the world appears just a tad bit brighter, where the dangers and reality were background noise. When one was in mourning, the world appeared darker and dull without any source of happiness in sight. When someone just broke up with another, the world was a memory album with each place a past memory ingrained deep into the roots. The moment Hannah walked down from her safe dorm, a wave of memories washed over her. The Common Room, the place where everyone hanged out with each other; it was also the place she used to cuddle with Zacharias. The loveseat by the fireplace, it was their seat.

Susan was guiding her out of the room and into the Great Hall. If it wasn't for her best friend, Hannah probably would have holed herself up in her room with a box of tissue for company. Being as the only two girls in Hufflepuff in their year, Susan would not allow her to stay behind alone in the dorm. With sluggish steps, Hannah was lead to breakfast. The sound of the Great Hall was lost on the girl. But the sound of one person was enough to draw her attention away from the numb feeling inside her. She glanced up from under her untidy bangs and caught sight of Zacharias laughing and talking with his friends. Susan must have also caught sight of the boy since she led Hannah away from the small group of boys.

"I swear, if I catch that boy alone, he'll be lucky to get out of it alive." Susan was terribly upset as she continued to mutter while she fixed Hannah's plate for her. She handed the goblet of hot chocolate to the silent girl to drink. Hannah took the goblet but didn't drink it. No matter how hard she tried, all she could hear was the laughter coming from down the table. It was mocking and Hannah's hands started to shake. Susan noticed the shaking when the goblet was set harshly onto the table. With a whimper that caught the attention of several Hufflepuffs, Hannah left the table at a hurry. Susan sent one dark glare straight at Zacharias before rushing after her crushed friend.

The next few days were all a blank to Hannah. If she didn't know better, she would have sworn she was under the Imperious curse. However, things couldn't go on that way. She needed to put an end to this wandering about mindlessly. She needed closure, even if the pain of losing an old friend is terrible, it was still better than a broken heart.

~0o0o0~

Within a classroom in an unused corridor of the school, Hannah paced nervously. Susan convinced the girl that she needed to talk with Zacharias. If it was up to Hannah, she would have continued to ignore the boy until the graduate Hogwarts. However that would never solve anything. Susan had pushed and pushed until Hannah allowed her to take over the plans to settle things once and for all. Now Hannah was waiting in the abandon classroom while Susan fetched the wayward boy. She waited nervously as she wondered exactly what was she supposed to ask the boy.

Just as she was about to have a nervous breakdown, the door opened before slamming close right after. Hannah swirled around to come face to face with the boy she had been avoiding with everything she had. His blue eyes stared right back at her's, wide and surprised but with a casual roll of his shoulders, he looked around him. The room was originally dusty but with a few quick charms from Hannah, the place looked better than it did for years. He swaggered over to a clean desk and took a seat. He looked at her, she looked at him, both awkwardly looking at each other.

"Hey."

"Hey Zacharias."

"So, um, how are things?"

A quick glare sent his way before she scornfully snapped at him. "…Why don't you tell me?"

His awkward look switched to shocked and surprised. Hannah never snapped at him before. She never snapped at anyone before, to his knowledge. "Huh? What do you mean Hannah? Did I do something wrong?"

"No, maybe…I don't know?" Angry, confused, a storm of emotions raged within the poor girl. Was she too harsh on the boy? Was she not clear enough?

Zacharias chuckled at the girl as he leaned back. He waved a hand at the girl without care. "You're funny Hannah. Of course I didn't do anything wrong. So what did you want to talk to me about?"

When she first entered the room, all she wanted to do was to talk. After he started talking, all Hannah wanted to do was to yell and scream. Whoever said bottling up emotions were haphazard to one's health, Hannah decided to let her emotions out. "…You didn't do anything wrong? You know what you did wrong!" With a stomp of her foot, Hannah stepped up and personal with the boy. With a pointed finger, she jabbed at his chest with each word.

Waving his arms about, Zacharias jumped off the desk to make some space between the two. "Hannah, you're not making sense."

"Making sense! I'm making perfect sense! You're the one in the wrong here!"

Confused no more, anger surged through the boy's body. "For doing what?'

Just as anger surged through his body, Hannah's rage was barely contained. With a hiss, Hannah told him exactly what he did wrong. "You kissed another girl!"

With a jolt, Zacharias's face lost the anger and replaced it with arrogance. His body relaxed and a smirk pasted itself onto his face. "Who? Julie? So? Besides, she wanted a kiss, so I gave her one. It's not like I have a girlfriend, Hannah, I get to kiss anyone I want."

No girlfriend….no girlfriend….then what is Hannah? Her anger lost itself as she hesitantly questioned him. "…I-I-I t-thought…..You mean to tell me, that we were….we were…..only…..friends?"

With a look on his face that screamed the obvious, Zacharias nodded his head. "Yea, we were only friends Hannah. Oh and speaking of that, can you stop kissing me every time you see me? It's getting old." He waved his hand in a careless fashion, unaware of Hannah's growing pain.

"…Zacharias Smith, you bloody arse!"

Surprised and shocked, Zacharias stared with wide eyes at his friend. "Hannah? You swore!" He has never heard her swore before. She was so polite and kind, this was a first.

"Yes, I bloody did you twat! And I will do it again! How-How dare you!" Traitorous tears began to form in her eyes. She turned away from him, reluctant to show him her tears.

"Dare I what?"

"You stupid, imbecilic boy!" She yelled back at him. With trembling lips, she told him that she thought they were together, as a couple.

"Huh? Why would you think that?"

Spinning around with a glare and a snarl on her lips, she yelled at him. "Because I confessed to you last year! And you agreed to go out with me!"

"I did? Don't know what I was drinking…" He scratched his head with obvious confusion on his face and lighthearted laughter in his voice.

She stared at him for a long while. She stared at his features, his clothes, and his obvious disregard to her feelings. He started to fidget after a moment of her staring but she turned away from him by then. Her shoulders slouched and her head fell forwards. She was tired from all her change of emotions. She didn't need this now. She had her N.E.W.T.S. soon and she didn't need the distraction that was a boyfriend. But no matter how hard she tried to ignore her pain, it was present in her chest, aching and crying. "Forget it. Forget everything. I just want to know, have you ever thought of us as a couple?"

"Um, sorry Hannah, you were only like a good friend of mine." He rubbed his head, a habit he would never get rid of. He appeared embarrassed but Hannah was more embarrassed. Things did not go the way they should and it was time for Hannah to leave.

"…That's fine. I'm leaving now."

"Hey wait, Hannah!" He reached out for her arm. His hand caught her before she wrenched herself away from the boy. Zacharias stared wide eye as the tears fell from Hannah's eyes.

"I don't want to talk to you Smith. I don't want to talk to you or see you. So just leave me alone." With her final words, she left the room. She turned her back to the boy who she thought she could love. As the door closed behind her, she missed the hurt and remorseful look that crossed Zacharias's face.

~0o0o0~

It was a sniffling Hannah Susan walked into when she opened the door to their dorm. With soft steps, the older girl moved to sit beside the cried out girl. She gathered the girl into her arms and rocked her like a child.

"Hannah?"

With a hoarse voice, Hannah managed to express her desire. "I don't want to see him again Susan!" Even though she was firm with her decision, her voice wavered just slightly. Susan shushed her as she ran her hand through the younger's hair. Hannah was her little 'sister', she worried constantly over the girl. Even though break ups were a part of life, Susan didn't want Hannah to suffer through the pain more than necessary.

Once Hannah quieted down a big, Susan had to ask, "What did he say?"

Apparently it was the wrong thing to ask. Hannah's lax body stiffened. She slowly removed herself from the safe comfort of her best friend's arms to look directly at the girl. With dead eyes, Hannah told her what Zacharias thought they were, of how he only thought they were friends. "Every time I kissed him, he only thought of me as a friend!" She thought she was all cried out, but her eyes betrayed her as tears started to form in her eyes. She dived back into the comfort of her arms and sobbed her heart out. This was Hannah's first serious relationship with a boy who was her closest friend. This broke her heart more than any other guy could ever dream to.

Susan held onto the girl tightly. She glared at the door to the Common room, "That boy! I'm going to hex him until oblivion!"

Hannah's grip on Susan tightened before they loosened. She leaned back and Susan's heart broke. Hannah shouldn't look dead to the world. Susan's eyes softened as she wiped the girl's face. "…Don't bother Su. I don't care about him anymore. I just hope there's at least one guy who's not going to break my heart like he did." Even with her words, her eyes remained distant. Susan hugged the girl to her.

"I'm sure there's someone here who's way better than that brat. You'll find him someday." She whispered to Hannah as they held each other.

"I hope so too, Su."

~0o0o0~

A/N: This chapter too long for my taste. I had all the dialogue planned out and I only needed to fill in the events and other minor stuff. But it took way too long! I had the dialogue done since...I think 2-3 days ago. Well, I'm done with this chapter, now I'm off for the final chapter! Whoo! One last chapter coming right up! Don't miss it and don't forget to review!


	3. Chapter 3

Title: Ashes to Ashes

Rating: T

Warnings: A little OOC from everyone, just a little. This was unbetaed, but I did read this over about three times, so if you found anything odd or wrong, just review or pm me.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, if I did, Harry would most like be a girl who's best friend is Hermione and the twins instead of Ron.

~0o0o0~

Hannah stared into the mirror as Susan ordered the rest of the girls within the room into order. Long brown hair pulled up into an intricate bun with a veil attached. Pale shoulders were bare for the world to see. Her necklace, a tiny magical jar filled with the ashes of her parents, encircled her neck, showing how long and slender it was. The jar ended in the tiny cleavage shown by her white gown. Her figure was shown off by the beautiful white wedding dress she was wearing. She still couldn't believe it, Hannah Abbot was about to marry the man of her dreams within an hour.

It only felt as though it was yesterday when her heart was broken by Zacharias. It felt as though she was in a daze throughout her seventh year. It wasn't until she bumped into Neville Longbottom in the Leaky Cauldron, did she feel as though she awaken from a long sleep. Once she met him, Neville was kind and sweet to her. Things went slowly with them. Neville knew she was still hurting. She knew he was also healing from the time that was Hogwarts. With each other's help, their hearts healed and opened towards one another. She didn't know she loved him, truly loved him, until he proposed to her. He was willing to spend the rest of his life with her. He was who she was waiting for since Zacharias broke her heart.

The sudden yelling brought her attention back into the world of the present. Glancing behind her, Hannah saw Susan yelling at someone from the open doors. The other girls were already prepared and had left the room prior to Susan yelling.

"Who do you think you are! You disappeared once we graduated and you never sent her a letter. She was still your best friend, you know! What right do you have to demand to see her! This is her special day. If you came to ruin it for her, you wish you were never born!" Susan rarely yelled. She only yelled when it concerned Hannah or when she was on duty as Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Whoever it was on the other side of the door must be someone Susan hate.

"Calm your horses Bones, I'm not here to cause trouble." That voice. It was the same voice from so long ago. It was the same, snobby and arrogant. It still held some power over Hannah as her heart ached slightly. She didn't want to see him, not today.

If anything Susan sensed the confusion from Hannah. With arms crossed, she told him exactly what she thought of him. "Why should I let you in to see her? You're not her best friend. You're just the douchebag who broke her heart."

There was a moment of silence before Zacharias Smith spoke again. "…Look, I just want to talk to her. A few minutes, please." This was the closest Hannah has ever heard him beg.

With a glance at the engagement ring on her hand and at the reflection of Hannah in her wedding dress, she felt it was time to settle things between her and Zacharias. "Susan, it's alright. Let him in."

She looked back at the girl and a worried look appeared on her face. "You're sure Hannah? I mean, this is your big day." She wasn't too sure about leaving her alone with the boy.

"I'm sure. Let him in." Hannah turned back to the mirror, not completely ready to face him face-to-face just yet. She heard Susan whispered something, most likely threats to Zacharias when the door closed behind her. With several deep breaths, Hannah opened her eyes.

"Hello Zacharias." He didn't look much different than he did three years ago. He still had his slightly messy blonde hair, his blue eyes. He looked older, but with the war, everyone looked older.

"Hannah, wow, you look amazing." He stared at the woman he thought he knew. This was his best friend. She was mousy when they were in school, a plain and simple girl. Now, in her wedding dress, Zacharias couldn't believe this was the same girl he denied going out with during school.

"Thank you."

Looking at her, Zacharias couldn't help feel worse than he did before. With some reluctance, he managed an apology for what happened in school. "…I'm so sorry for what I've done."

"You have nothing to be sorry about. I was-"

"No! You're wrong! I was wrong. I lied. In that classroom all those years ago, I lied. I knew you liked me more than just a friend."

The silence between the two was thick enough to slice. Hannah never thought of the possibility that he knew. She thought he was a oblivious friend, never seeing how much she loved him. But with that thought destroyed, the scars on her heart pulsed with pain.

"…Then why did you lie?"

"Hannah, I was young. I was foolish." He shrugged his shoulders, as though that was enough to explain his actions. For another guy, maybe it was enough, but for Hannah, that was barely enough to tame her anger.

With a scathing tone, Hannah agreed with him. "Yes, and because of that, our friendship was sacrificed."

His face scrunched together as a look of frustration crossed his face. "Look, I'm here to tell you, I was a horrible friend and even worse as a boyfriend." His attempts to get back together with Hannah was not turning out the way he wanted. He originally thought she would wait for him, like how Granger would always wait for Weasley. It appears he thought wrong.

"…So what do you want me to do? I'm getting married today, Zach."

"I'm not about to tell you to leave Longbottom, although you could have don't way better." To think, Hannah left him for Longbottom of all people. Of course, after the war, Longbottom wasn't the same wimp he was during Hogwarts. But it didn't change the fact she left him for that guy.

With a snarl, Hannah pulled out her wand on him. Zacharias stumbled back from the sudden appearance of her wand, unprepared for her furious snarl. "Don't talk about Neville that way! He's a much better man than you'll ever be, Smith! At least he didn't run away after the war!" Sparks flew from her wand as it responded to her anger.

In the background, Susan was heard knocking on the door and calling through it. "Hannah, is everything alright in there?"

But the two were too angry to pay any attention to it. Zacharias, ignoring the fact a ready wand was pointed at him, was furious as he yelled at his supposed best friend. "I wasn't foolish enough to throw myself into a fight without a chance of winning!"

"You're always like that, thinking only about yourself!"

"I thought about the future!"

"A future that would have been swallowed up by darkness if we didn't fight!"

The door slammed open. Hannah and Zacharias were in the middle of another shout when a woman stepped in between the two. "What's going on here!"

"Hermione…"

"Granger?"

"That's Weasley. And I've heard the yelling from down the hall. So someone care to tell me what is going on here?" Her long bushy hair was tamed into an elegant bun and her dress was cut to show off enough skin without being too showy. Her hands on her hips and her eyes fierce, Hermione was not in the mood to settle another argument. However for her friend Hannah, who was the bride of the wedding, she was not going to allow anything or anyone stress the girl out.

"Butt out Weasley, this is none of your business."

"It is my business when you're bothering the bride to this wedding I helped plan. So either you say your piece and leave with your pride, or I will curse you to leave." She pulled out her wand quicker than he thought was possible. With three wands, since Bones decided it would be best to prepare for the worse, pointed at him, he knew he was outnumbered, even if they were girls. He knew he was defeated.

"…Fine. Abbot, I apologize for hiding the fact that I knew of your infatuation with me during seventh year. I was going to ask for your forgiveness, but as things are, I don't care enough for it."

Susan gestured towards the door with her wand. "Leave Smith, you've done enough trouble as it is." He glared at all three girls as he stomped towards the door. Hannah turned away from the door and focused only on the ring in her hand. She returned the wand back into the hidden pocket of her gown.

"Zacharias." A single word from Hannah's lips stopped the man from leaving. He didn't turn around and neither did Hannah. With a voice neutral of any emotions, Hannah bid him a final farewell.

"No matter what went on between us, you were my best friend. But things changed and we fell apart. So take care, I hope to never see you again."

Hannah played with the engagement ring on her hand as the door closed behind her. She felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked up into the eyes of her best friend, Susan. Her eyes were filled with worried but there was also a proud look in her eyes.

"Hannah…"

"Why do I feel so much better?" And she did feel better. She felt as though a weight was lifted from her shoulders and the world appeared so much brighter. She felt giddy as the clock chimed the half hour before the wedding starts.

"You finally closed that chapter of your life. Things will go much smoother from here on." Hermione waved her wand several times and Hannah could feel the rejuvenating feeling her magic shot through her.

"I hope so, Hermione."

With a bright smile, Hermione held out her hand towards her friend. "It will, after all, you did find your Right Guy."

With a bright smile in return, Hannah placed her hand into Hermione's. "True." With a gentle tug, Hannah stood up from her seat.

Susan wiped her eyes from traitorous tears and sniffed. She pulled out her wand and started the final preparations for the wedding. "Come on, let's tidy you up and get you ready before Neville wonders if you changed your mind." With laughter around her, Hannah couldn't wait to start the new chapter of her story.

~0o0o0~

A/N: And that's that. Hannah's done with Zach. She'll marry Neville and have her ever after. With Zach, well, let's just say, he's freeloading off of one of his ex's place, the same girl from chapter 1. Why is she letting him stay there? Well, he got her pregnant and she's forcing him to take responsibility. And that's all folks. This is completed and there will be no more updates. Enjoy!

Oh and Happy Chinese New Years!


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